


Untitled

by litaesthetic



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Foreign Language, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Paris (City), Sexual Content, eren does a lot of embarrassing things the novel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-12 01:04:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3338324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litaesthetic/pseuds/litaesthetic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren has never been faced with a challenge like this. He has to find a muse for his new novel so he can become one of the greatest authors the world has ever seen in the largest city in France and with no language skills, no friends, and only 20 days till his first rough draft is due to his editor, it would take a miracle for him to make the deadline in time. But everyone knows miracles don't exist outside of fiction. That's what makes them so exhilarating to write.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Untitled

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about this Au for awhile and I feel like it's time for me to put pen to paper. There is french in this story, I'm a french student and I've been studying the language for five years and I'll be going abroad in 2015 to France so this story is almost like practice for me. I'll be sure to include translations next to dialogues. I will also try to update this story bi-weekly or monthly (with notice if I get stuck doing something and get behind) I like writing for myself and my personal health because it helps me unwind so I'm not going to be very serious about this I'm just going to have fun and include a lot of puns.

Do you ever feel as if you’ve lost the ability to put pen to paper?

Eren gazed, eyes nearly shut, at the word document. He instantly cleared the sentence from the paper and sighed into his hands. This writer’s block truly was getting to him at this point. He hadn’t been able to come up with an idea in five days and his editor would be expecting a rough draft at the end of the month. Maybe moving to France to become a best-selling novelist was a bad idea. He’d only gone by the request of his sister, Mikasa, and now here he was slumped over in his chair trying to write the next Victor Hugo or Jules Verne. He didn't even know why Mikasa needed him there with her other than to help pay rent. She was fresh out of college now only a year younger than Eren. What was his purpose here besides her? Eren stared blankly at the screen before typing.

We can't all have purpose but we can all try to find one.

Eren scoffed at the sentence after typing it and erased it almost instantly. There's no way being here would do him any good of becoming a bestselling novelist. He didn't even know how to write French for Christ’s sake. He could speak fairly well considering he'd only been there for a week but having skipped over the foreign language programs in high school and college in order to take more writing courses, France was the absolute last place he was expecting to be moving to with Mikasa. He sighed and gazed out the window of their Parisian apartment. 

"Some would probably kill for a view like that." Mikasa said after entering the apartment. She had had a single shopping bag of, what Eren thought would probably be cigarettes in hand as she crossed the kitchen to the front room where Eren's desk sat in front of the window balcony. Eren never necessarily liked the thought of Mikasa smoking but since she'd picked up the habit in college there wasn't much he could do. He'd always been sure to keep a "to each his own" air about the topic. 

"I'm going back to America." Eren said, keeping his back toward her. Suddenly he felt his shoulders twist violently as she spun him around to face her. She moved so quickly for a twenty-three year old it was scary.

"You can't." She replied, hands gripping his shoulders as if to rip them off if he were to say the same thing twice.

"Why do I have to be here? There's nothing for me to do here other than sit at this old desk all day and stare at a monitor." He felt her grip tighten on him but he kept his ground. Mikasa could always intimidate him but he knew she would never hurt him. 

"That's because you haven't even tried to go out and explore the world Eren! You haven't left the apartment since we got back from the airport!" Eren scoffed at the comment and Mikasa let go of him with a groan. "Jesus Eren! You're in one of the busiest cities in the entire world and you choose to leave after five days of sitting in solitude." She scoffed back at him. 

"Well what do you expect from someone who can't speak the language, has no friends, and has a deadline to reach in just 20 days and hasn't even thought of a story." 

"So you're just going to give up then?" Mikasa said. Her words stung Eren. He hated it when she accused him of giving up.

"Who said I was giving up?" 

"Me, because obviously you haven't even tried to find the good things about this city."

"Oh like what?" Eren said, arms crossed as if he was already done listening.

"Let's make a bet." Mikasa said. Eren looked at her, interested at the thought of a challenge. "You have to go out every day until your deadline and find yourself a muse. If your deadline comes and you still haven't found one, then you can go back."  
Eren looked bewildered at her. She couldn't be serious. "You can't be serious." He said aloud.  
"I'm dead serious, Eren. 20 days, just give the city 20 days and I promise you; she won't disappoint." Mikasa said, holding her hand out for Eren's agreement. He groaned and held up his hand to shake hers. 

He could not believe this. But 20 more days in this city wouldn't kill him, he thought. He just had to go out whether it be to the supermarket or to the lobby of his apartment building. These 20 days would go by faster than nothing.

 

They weren't going by faster than nothing, he thought as he slumped over his computer screen. It had been two days since then but it had felt like years. He hadn't gone farther than the medical store at the end of the street and when he came back he had the rest of the day to waste at his computer as he had been doing the five days before. He groaned as he got up from his severely indented chair and prepared for his daily "outing." He put on his grey hoodie and NYC baseball cap. He always enjoyed the stares he got when he walked out with American clothing. And the people who, very loudly, would whisper in French while passing him on the street always made his day. Yes, gossip was a magical language to Eren in the fact that it seemed to be the only language spoken all around the world.

He proceeded down the stairs of his apartment building and made his way down his usual path towards the medical store. He stopped at one of the cafés on the street and picked up a coffee, black of course, because that’s how all of the greats drank theirs. Even though Eren hated the taste of black coffee, the thought of the caffeine circulating through his body seemed to make him starved for writing. He really did only ever feel at ease when he wrote. The mixture of tones upon tones and plot development that would draw anyone in, even the most unwilling of characters; just the thought got him tingling with excitement as he took his seat at one of the tables with the newest "Le Monde" in hand. 

He skimmed for words he knew like "oui" or "bonjour" until he came to an article titled in English. He recognized it immediately as "L. R. Ackerman, On His Way to Being One of The Great Writers of France." The rest continued in French but the name stuck to Eren like glue as he found it in various other articles on the newsstand outside the café. He was surprised, however, to find no pictures of the so-called “Great author” in any of the articles. "Some big shot. Must not like all the attention.." Eren said under his breath as he choked down the rest of his coffee. He continued walking down the street with the article still in hand. 

He passed by the various shops and cafés on the street, really there were too many to count with too many French names he didn't care to try and read. He did like going outside though, because of the cool breeze and the temperate weather, there truly was a relaxing atmosphere about the entire city that the United States just didn't have. Then again the United States had McDonalds and you really just couldn't argue with something like that.  
He broke away from his thoughts however when his leg met harshly with a large chalk board sign in the middle of the sidewalk. He had to stop himself from almost falling over and he knew there'd be a nice large bruise in the morning. "Thanks France." he cursed under his breath as he looked down blamingly at the sign which hadn't even been affected by the impact of his leg. It was written in both English and French, not uncommon in France but it had been the first Eren had seen since he left the airport. 

It read, > Eren looked inside the open doors of the café. It had a large layout with a visible stage near the rear. There were little three person tables scattered throughout the room as well as a long bar across the right side of the space. The lights were dimmed, illuminated by the sunlight coming in from the open doors. It had a cozy and mellow vibe to it that Eren didn’t mind at all. Eren glanced at one of the windows by the entrance which had posted another English/French sign on the it that read >

Eren had to hold back his tears at the sound of free wifi. He walked in and met eyes with the guy behind the bar. He flashed him a quick smile and said, "Bonjour monsieur! Qu'est ce que vous desirez? (Hello! What can I do for you?)" Eren jolted back to the real world when he heard the French. That's right, even if he could sit here and write all day he still couldn't talk to anyone.  
"Uhh- Je non parler pas français (uhh- I not to speak no French.)" Eren replied.  
Instantly the large man shot him another smile and gave an educated nod, "Oh so you're a foreigner. Let me guess, English right?" He spoke fluently with just the smallest hint of an accent but the English switch was so quick Eren had to catch his breath as he walked towards the bar. 

"Y-Yea, well, kind of. I mean, I'm American but- umm why do you know English?" Oh my god Eren you can't just ask someone why they speak English, he thought to himself as he started turning cherry. The large man let out a startling laugh which left the other 2 people in the café staring at them. 

"Oh my god, sorry that was just a really good reaction to me speaking English." He said, "You should be careful though most people would get offended but American to American, I don't really care." He continued with a knowing grin as Eren went completely red. Another American! And here he'd thought him and Mikasa were to last survivors of their nationality. 

"Sorry, I'm just not quite adjusted yet I think." 

"I see, so are you here on vacation?"

"Not quite, we moved in up the street about a week ago." Eren said, unnoticeably smiling at his very English conversation.

"I can't imagine the culture shock, especially in this neighborhood, there's hardly any English speakers around here."  
"Yeah, I've noticed.." 

The man let out another loud laugh and pulled down a cup from the wall behind him. "Now what can I get for you, on the house today." He said. 

"A coke's fine." Eren replied as he watched him pour the drink. This was amazing, Eren was actually talking to someone in English who wasn't Mikasa. And inside a writers café none the less. Eren broke out of his celebration for the time, however when the man continued talking to him.  
"So do you have a name?" he asked, setting Eren's drink down in front of him. 

"Eren." he said. 

"Erwin." the man replied with a smile. For an American he had a pretty German name but who was he to judge if he was speaking perfect English. Eren put the name in his memory and took a sip of his coke. He still had the taste of black coffee in his mouth and the coke was like smooth jazz as it slid down his throat. 

"So this is a writers café isn't it?"

"You saw our sign?" Erwin said with a knowing laugh.

"You could say that.." Eren knew Erwin had seen his encounter with the sign earlier which only made him blush harder. Damnit nice first impression Jeager, he thought to himself.  
"So do you write?" Erwin asked, grabbing a cup of his own and starting a pot of tea for himself. 

"I do, but recently I’ve gotten into a slump so I haven’t been able to get anything down." 

"Oh? So what do you write?" Erwin inquired, a small smile creeping on his face.

"I write fiction, one novel, some short stories..."  
"Any poems?"

"Definitely not," Eren replied shaking his head. He was never one for rhymes and he didn't care for the rules and restrictions.  
"I'm not really into all of the rules." 

"Who ever said there were rules attached to writing?" Erwin stated. "In my opinion, if you can put pen to paper and make someone feel something, writing is writing. I’m a poet myself. I like being able to put big ideas into tiny places, with or without rules." 

Eren’s eyes widened at the comment. He couldn't respond. "So are you thinking of coming tonight? It'd be fun just to listen to the writing. It's good for writers block too." 

At that Eren was sold. He was still in awe and could only manage to nod his head in approval. Erwin smiled again and they continued talking as they finished their drinks. 

 

It was 15:30 when Mikasa came back and found Eren rummaging through his closet for a clean button up. He was already wearing dark brown slacks and the same tee he'd worn earlier. "Interesting day?" She inquired, setting down her work bag. She worked at the Medical Research Center only five minutes by bus. It had been her dream to work there since she entered high school. It seems dreams really could come true for some people, Eren thought. 

"You could say that." He responded, finally pulling out a blue and green button up from his drawers. It was his favorite shirt because it matched his eyes, or at least that's what people told him anyway. 

"I'm going out tonight."  
Mikasa's eyes widened and with them so did her smile. 

"Don't give me that look like you know you were right, I still have no clue how it'll turn out." Eren said, pulling his shirt off and tossing it to the corner of the room. He'd never been very tidy but Mikasa never got on him about it because she passed it off as being 'a boy thing.'

"So what is it?" she asked.

"It's a writer’s night at one of the cafés down the street. The owner speaks English and we talked after I tripped over his sign."

"Wow. You would." Mikasa replied, trying to cover her amusement. Eren shot her a smile, trying to hide his own embarrassment as he buttoned up his shirt and stood in front of Mikasa. 

"How do I look?" 

"Like you're going to have fun." Mikasa replied, keeping the smile on her face. It was always times like these that Eren really felt like Mikasa was older and he thanked her for that. It was part of why Eren was as confused as to why she'd need him to move with her for moral support. She'd had such a handle on her life from the moment she was taken in by his mom and dad at 13. 

He'd wandered for days now what he was doing here but hopefully he'd find his answer after tonight. He checked himself in the mirror on his wall before he gave a deciding nod of approval. 

"Wanna go grab something to eat before you go?" Mikasa said as she turned and walked back into the kitchen to grab her purse, as if she already knew what his reply would be.

"Sure, but no snails please, not yet, I'm not ready for something like that yet." Eren replied, following her out to go put his shoes on. 

 

It was exactly 17:30 when Eren arrived at the café. The sign was still in the middle of the sidewalk but he managed to avoid it this time. The lights were already dimmed inside the café save for a couple mood lamps scattered across the walls and the stage was lit by the red and green and blue lights hanging from the ceiling. There was a man speaking poetically in French as people stared back in awe at the him. Whatever the guy was saying must have been pretty deep, Eren thought. He was beginning to see why everyone called Paris the literature capital of the western world. He felt a large hand fall on his shoulder as he looked up to his right at Erwin.  
"Glad you could make it." He said, a bit of an accent slid off his tongue and you could tell he'd just been speaking fluent French with some of the other guests. Suddenly Eren began to feel like an outsider again. He'd forgotten that Erwin would probably be the only one there who spoke both languages. Good going Eren, you just walked right into a culture fest...and now it'd be rude to leave just after arriving. Eren's hope was quickly draining when from the corner of the room he heard a deep yell which he couldn't take as anything but an angry curse. 

"Taire-toi! (Shut up!)" Said one middle sized man as he hovered over a small body sitting on the corner sofa. "Que serais que tu sais au sujet d'écrire? Tu es un embarras simplement! (What do you know about writing? You’re an embarrassment!)" The man tossed the drink in his hands at the figure on the couch. That was enough to make Erwin move in. He had the guy by the cuff of his shirt by the time Eren had finished blinking and was already moving him towards the door by the time he began to register what was happening. 

Eren saw Erwin whisper something in French to the guy which he could only interpret as a harsh warning before tossing him back out onto the sidewalk.  
Not even skipping a beat Erwin turned and went back to the figure on the couch, still slumped over, unmoved by the events that had just occurred. This time, Eren followed Erwin over, not even realizing he had been moving until he was actually there. Eren stared down at the drenched man sitting before him. His black hair was beginning to curl from the drink and Eren could just barely see through his white button up that was pressed against his chest. It wasn't until Erwin swung his arm over his shoulder to help him stand that Eren noticed how short he was. He looked at tops 5'4 and while being partially slumped over Erwin in a drunken state he looked definitely less than 5ft. The man groaned something awful at Erwin as he was led over to the bar. Erwin glanced at Eren as if to say he was going to need some help and Eren instinctively swung the man's other arm over his shoulder as they walked passed the bar and up the staircase in the right corner of the space. 

As Eren carried the man he couldn't help but to feel all of the muscles in his torso and on his arms. It confused him, if he was so buff why the hell would he just let someone pour their drink all over him? Either he was too drunk to care or he was too much of an asshole to care, Eren thought.  
They walked as the man sent more drunken slurs to Erwin, ultimately met by silence until they reached a door that stated "N'emplois que (Employees only)" and Eren recognized the word "employees" from when he went job hunting with Mikasa after her graduation. 

They went into the small room and inside was a medium sized couch on the left and a desk that sat opposite. Erwin laid the man back first onto the couch as Eren went to shut the door. And as soon as the door had shut, the fire started. 

"Qu'est-que tu pensais Levi? (What were you thinking Levi?)" Erwin erupted. Eren caught the name Levi and assumed it was that of the man on the couch. 

"Le mec étais un idiot qui ne saurait pas à même réussir la bac. (The guy was an idiot who wouldn’t even know how to pass the Bac.)" Levi replied, grabbing for the towel that Erwin had picked up on their way up the stairs. 

"Tu n'es l'idiot que je vois ici. Toutjours, tu commences les disputes avec tout les perso- (You’re the only idiot I see. Every day you start fights with everyon-)"

"Ҫa n'est pas ma faut! (That’s not my fault!)" Levi cut in. 

"Hey maybe you should cut the guy some slack." Eren whispered to Erwin, gaining Levi's attention for the first time since they'd started talking. 

"Qui est-t-il? (Who’s he?)" Levi spoke to Erwin, disregarding Eren's existence in the room entirely. Erwin looked at Eren, realizing he still had no idea what was happening. 

"Il est American. (He’s an American)" Eren caught the word "American" and glanced towards Levi who now had his expression pinned on him like daggers. 

"Look, this doesn't concern you, kid. You should leave and stay the hell out of it." Levi said to Eren with little to no accent showing through. It took Eren a second to register what he'd heard, disregarding the warning completely. 

"You speak English!" He gasped out. A smile as long as the seine covered his face. Levi merely sighed and turned back to Erwin. 

"Où est-ce que tu as trouvé cet enfant Erwin? (Where’d you find this kid Erwin?)" Levi scoffed with a smirk. Eren knew now that Levi was talking about him and his expression changed from that of relief to that of pure distaste. What kind of an idiot did he take him for? 

"Whatever you just said, you can say it in English." Eren spoke out to Levi. His face was flushed red as Levi's smirk merely melted into an amused grin. 

""Whatever you just said, you can say in English?"" Levi restated. "What an American demand to have when placing yourself in the land of the French." he bemused. "Maybe you should learn a language before complaining about it." That's it. Eren hated this guy. What an absolute asshole. 

"Levi." Erwin shot him a warning glare much like he'd done when they first started arguing. "He's smarter than he looks." Erwin continued. Levi's focus turned back to Eren, then went back to Erwin after giving him a very obvious once-over. 

"He would be smarter if he minded his own business." Levi said. Eren knew he'd said it in English so that he could take the hint. "Do you write?" Levi demanded suddenly. 

The question took Eren off guard and he felt his face redden. Of course he was proud of his writing but something about Levi told him anything could render him unimpressed. "Y-yes." He stuttered his reply, against his will and instantly regretted it when Levi shot him a demanding glance. 

"It wasn't a rocket science question. I asked you if you write, yes or no?" Levi didn't move from his gaze and Eren could feel his chest tightening at his intimidation. 

"Y-Yes I do. I'm actually considered one of the greats over in America." That was a lie. And he could tell that Levi knew it was a lie. 

"Oh? Enlighten me then great thinker." Levi mused. He chuffed a small laugh witch pissed Eren off to know end. How cocky was this guy anyway? 

" Ce mec ne saurait pas un philosophie s'il frappe dans son visage. (This guy wouldn’t know a philosophy if it hit him in the face.)" Levi suddenly turned to Erwin. 

Eren caught the word philosophy and realized it must have been an insult. His patience was wearing really thin with this guy now and he had half a mind to get his own drink to throw in his face. 

Instead he knew that this should be a battle of the minds. A test of intellectual theory. A challenge of humanistic ideologies. A challenge Eren was willing to take. 

"In the words of the great Victor Hugo, "The wicked envy and hate; it is their way of admiring."" Eren teased and he could see a spark of interest in Levi's otherwise cold expression. He'd gotten his attention. 

"Oh? So you do know something. But as Ernest Hemingway would put it, "An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk and spend time with his fools."" 

"Oh but "I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing." Socrates." Eren retorted.

"It takes a lot of things to prove you're smart but only one thing to prove that you're ignorant!" Don Herold!"

"An intelligent person is never afraid or ashamed to find errors in his understanding of things!" McGill!"

"An intellectual is somon-"

"Arrête! (Stop!)" Erwin yelled over their debate of quotes. They had both understood that he'd said stop and suddenly they were both brought back to reality. Levi shot Eren with a glare he could only assume was because he'd gotten him in trouble with Erwin. 

"Well I guess you're not hopelessly stupid." He said as he kept his stare towards him. Eren had never met a 5'4 human who could intimidate while being absolutely drunk like he could. In fact, he’d never met a human who could hold a philosophical debate while being absolutely drunk like he could, come to think of it. Just who was this guy anyway? As if he'd heard his thoughts a smirk began to form on Levi's face. 

"Oh my bad, how rude of me. I'm Levi. But you've probably heard of me as L.R. Ackerman." 

L.R. Ackerman. As in the L.R. Ackerman who happened to be the top writer in France, L.R. Ackerman. Eren's surprise must've looked obvious because Levi's smirk widened at his expression. 

"Levi, stop being an asshole and start worrying about your alcoholism." Erwin cut it. Levi's smirk changed to a glare towards Erwin. 

"You don't tell me how to live my life. A quote from myself to the rest of the sober population of France." Levi said as he turned and took a seat on the sofa. "To find knowlege, a bit of madness is always used to soften the punch-"

"Oh for Christ’s sake Levi just stop it! You're going to get yourself killed before you can even release that masterpiece of knowlege you keep going on about!"

"He has a point though." Eren interjected. 

Both Erwin and Levi looked up in surprise at the comment. "You think so?" Levi inquired, leaning forward now in his seat. For the second time that night, his interest had been peaked by the kid.

"Oh Eren don't agree with him, really, he's already-"

"Let the kid preach his own opinions Erwin." Levi said in a demanding tone. "How are we to say what we feel but deny that God-given right to others?" He motioned his hand towards Eren. "Allez. Speak." 

"Well," Eren started before taking a loud breath. "I can see where you're going with balancing theory and madness. I think to understand free thought in all of its grandeur one must first exploit himself to every form of thought. That includes the thoughts of a drunk. I think knowlege can come from anywhere, even the strangest of places." 

Erwin let out an exhausted sigh. Levi only stared starry eyed at Eren as if he'd uncovered a lost classic of ancient times. Eren met his gaze and in that moment they both could feel the same thought resonating off of each other. But it only lasted a brief moment. 

"Very good kid."

"I'm not a kid. I'm 24."

"Everyone's a kid when it comes to literature kid." 

"Eren.." 

"Right, Eren. You've got half a brain, that's for sure. And that's more than 90% of Paris trust me, I know...but you're still just a kid." Levi said keeping his gaze on Eren as he began turning cherry. 

"Well how old are you?"

"26 and dying fast." Levi replied. He had an intonation in his voice that led Eren to believe he was joking about dying but his sigh that he released shortly after gave a different context.

"Erwin, can you help me write my next masterpiece and get me and this kid some drinks?" Levi said to Erwin like a wife would to her husband. 

"What happened to dying fast?" Erwin inquired.

"Who ever said I was dying on accident?" Levi retorted as a casual grin crossed his face. That was the first time Eren had seen Levi smile and it was almost comforting to the atmosphere of the room.

Eren looked down at Levi and then back up to Erwin who, after another dragged out sigh turned to him as to inquire what drink he'd want. 

"Oh. Um, just a coke would be fine, thanks." 

"Make that a scotch." Levi interjected pinning Eren with a wide smirk.

"We're going to be doing some writing tonight, kid."


End file.
